Profile: By almost every measure, Straily was the top starter in the minor leagues in 2012, recording the highest strikeout total (190) and rate (31.6%) among minor leaguers with at least 20 games started. A 24th-round draft pick out of Marshall University by Oakland in 2009, Straily was originally regarded as a marginal prospect at best; however, a combination of mechanical refinements and improved fitness allowed him to add velocity. Between August and September, Straily made seven major-league starts, with uninspiring results (39.1 IP, 129 xFIP-, -0.5 WAR). That said, his excellent major-league equivalent numbers are backed by a repertoire that ought to play at the highest level. Combined with Oakland's pitcher-friendly stadium, Straily's raw numbers should be better than league average. (Carson Cistulli)

The Quick Opinion: Originally a 24th-round pick in 2009, Straily has added velocity in the meantime and proceeded to lead the minor leagues in strikeouts in 2012. His seven major-league starts were uninspiring, but the resume at lower levels remains convincing.

Profile: It took Dan Straily seventeen grips to find a changeup that worked for him, but we're glad he did. Because even though the pitch is only about league-average when it comes to whiffs and ground balls, paired with his excellent slider and decent fastball, he has a major league arsenal. And with the change, he has a platoon-buster, a pitch he can use against lefties -- and he does indeed use the pitch almost seven times as often against lefties as he does against righties. Straily ended his rookie season with well above-average whiff rates on the entire arsenal (11.1%, average is around 9%), and though those whiffs haven't yet turned into strikeouts like maybe they should (19.4%, American League starters managed 18.9% as a group), there's still a chance that the Athletic can sequence his pitches better to get better results. He has good command and will be pitching in a pitcher-friendly park this year, so the floor is decently high. Since his fastball only leaves his hand around 91 these days, and none of this pitches get elite-level whiffs or grounders, the ceiling isn't ace-like. (Eno Sarris)

The Quick Opinion: Any pitcher in Oakland is interesting, for now. But Dan Straily actually has one of the more complete arsenals in that current rotation. Those pitches probably don't give him ace-like upside, but they really bring his floor up.

Profile: Sure, Dan Straily doesn't have the velocity he used to own when the Athletics drafted him pretty much only because he could sit 93 on the fastball. His nascent slider got better as he kept pitching, though. And they finally taught him a good changeup. Now he barely breaks 90, but those two non-fastballs are still working, and now he has three pitches that are above average by whiffs and grounders (including that slower fastball). So he does well in any Arsenal Score you might come up with. Who knows if he is in that Astros rotation -- he's probably battling Brad Peacock for one spot, so he might not start the season there -- but it's not like that top four is a lock to stay healthy (and Peacock himself has issues). At some point, Dan Straily will be relevant in 2015. And now that he's on the Astros, that day might be draft day in your deeper leagues. (Eno Sarris)

The Quick Opinion: It's not about velocity with Straily any more. It's about the fact that he has three good pitches by peripheral results, and now has an opportunity to start in the big leagues. Once it gets to your reserve rounds, it's time to pounce in deeper leagues.

Profile: Straily has bounced around a lot the past few years, struggling to gain a foothold with the Cubs following a trade from the A's before being flipped to the Astros in January of 2015. The major league time that he has seen between 2014-15 has been pretty abysmal, as an absurdly low strand rate and home run problems inflated his ERA to above six. Still, there's probably a solid starter here, as he continued to post fantastic strikeout and walk rates at Triple-A last year (but was also undone by a .356 batting average on balls in play). Eno Sarris broke down his repertoire after his trade to the Astros: "Straily took a while to find his changeup, but once he did, it completed his arsenal. That change, with a 17% whiff rate and a 50% ground-ball rate [in 2014], was well above average among its peers. With a 22% whiff rate, his slider was a top-ten offering among starters. And his fastball, despite losing a bit of gas, was still average with a 7% whiff rate. At the very least, Straily can be an average starter." At this point in his career (he's now 27), Straily needs a full-time shot at a big league rotation to really show what he's got. Whether that will happen in 2016 with the Astros is a big question mark. (Owen Watson)

The Quick Opinion: Straily didn't get much of a shot at the big leagues after his trade from the Cubs to the Astros in January of 2015. That shot wasn't impressive, but it's difficult to read too much into such a stop-start small sample. Headed into 2016, he's on the outside looking in on the Astros rotation, and he'll only gain fantasy value if he finds a promotion at some point during the year. If he does, however, there's an average major league starter here.